Pembroke College, Cambridge
Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge,[3] England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 students and fellows. It is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from almost every century since its founding, as well as extensive gardens. Its members are termed "Valencians".[4] The college's current master is Chris Smith, Baron Smith of Finsbury.
Pembroke College
The College or Hall of Valence Mary (commonly called Pembroke College) in the University of Cambridge
PEM[1]
1347
- Marie Valence Hall (1347–?)
- Pembroke Hall (?–1856)
484 (2022-23)
282 (2022-23)
Pembroke has a level of academic performance among the highest of all the Cambridge colleges; in 2013, 2014, 2016, and 2018 Pembroke was placed second in the Tompkins Table. Pembroke contains the first chapel designed by Sir Christopher Wren and is one of only six Cambridge colleges to have educated a British prime minister, in Pembroke's case William Pitt the Younger. The college library, with a Victorian neo-gothic clock tower, has an original copy of the first encyclopaedia to contain printed diagrams.
The Trumpington Street Façade with the College Chapel on the right, the first building to be built by Sir Christopher Wren
The Gatehouse is the oldest in Cambridge, dating from the 14th century
Dining Hall
Traditions[edit]
Pembroke holds Formal Hall 4 evenings a week depending on their qualifications: a separate Hall is held for BA students. Students of the college must wear gowns and arrive on time for Latin Grace, which starts the dinner. Like many Cambridge colleges, Pembroke also has an annual May Ball.
According to popular legends, Pembroke is inhabited by ghosts occupying the Ivy Court.[11]
International programmes[edit]
Pembroke is the only Cambridge college to have an International Programmes Department, providing opportunities for international students to spend a semester (mid-January to mid-June), or part of the summer, in Cambridge. The Spring Semester Programme is a competitive programme for academically outstanding students who wish to follow a regular Cambridge degree course as fully matriculated members of the University. There are around thirty places each year.[16]
In the summer the college offers the eight-week Pembroke Cambridge Summer Programme.[17] As well as the academic content, trips are made to locales such as London, and the programme has a series of formal halls and events such as croquet matches and punting on the River Cam.[18] This is also the programme for which the prestigious Thouron Prize is awarded, fully supporting nine American undergraduates from Harvard, Yale, and UPenn.[19] In addition, there is the Pembroke College, Cambridge 1976 Scholarship,[20] awarded to three outstanding undergraduates from the University of California.
